Senior Software Engineer — Container Images & Security

RapidFort, Inc.

11d • $130,000 - $200,000 • Remote

About The Position

RapidFort is seeking a hands-on Senior Software Engineer to join its Curated Images team and build, secure, and maintain production-ready container images at scale. The role combines Linux engineering, vulnerability remediation, and software automation. The engineer will own the container image lifecycle, from building minimal, reproducible images through CVE analysis and remediation, runtime compatibility validation, and automated maintenance and publishing. The work spans Linux distributions and application stacks including Python, Go, and Java, and involves investigating package and dependency issues, implementing fixes, and making those fixes repeatable through automation. U.S. citizenship is required because the role supports federal government customers.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship is required due to work supporting federal government customers.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in software engineering, Linux systems engineering, platform engineering, DevSecOps, or SRE.
• Deep understanding of Linux systems and hands-on experience with distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, Alpine, or RHEL.
• Strong experience building and optimizing Docker images, including multi-stage builds, image layering, and container filesystem structures.
• Proven experience investigating and remediating CVEs in Linux packages and container images, including patching, rebuilding, and validating fixes.
• Strong working knowledge of Linux package management and dependency resolution using tools such as apt, apk, yum/dnf, or rpm.
• Strong programming or scripting skills in Python, Go, or Bash, with experience building maintainable automation and internal tooling.
• Experience developing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or similar tools.
• Hands-on experience with vulnerability scanners such as Trivy, Grype, or Clair, along with SBOM generation.
• Solid understanding of Kubernetes concepts, container lifecycles, and image deployment requirements.
• Ability to independently troubleshoot complex technical issues and collaborate effectively across engineering teams.

Nice To Haves

• Experience building minimal or distroless images and maintaining a large catalog of container images.
• Experience building Linux packages from source or backporting security fixes.
• Familiarity with SBOM formats and tools such as SPDX, CycloneDX, and Syft.
• Experience with image signing, provenance, and verification using Cosign or Sigstore.
• Knowledge of software supply chain security frameworks such as SLSA.
• Familiarity with container registries such as Docker Hub, Harbor, or Amazon ECR.
• Experience with Helm, Kustomize, GitOps, or infrastructure-as-code workflows.
• Experience in a startup environment or regulated industry.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and maintain minimal, hardened container images across Linux distributions and application runtimes.
• Own end-to-end CVE remediation across OS packages, libraries, runtimes, and dependencies, including analysis, patching, rebuilding, and validation.
• Troubleshoot package compatibility, dependency, build, and runtime issues while preserving application functionality.
• Reduce image attack surface and size by removing unnecessary packages, binaries, and dependencies.
• Build and improve automated pipelines for image builds, vulnerability scanning, remediation, testing, and publishing.
• Develop tooling for image versioning, dependency updates, metadata, and release traceability.
• Generate, validate, and maintain SBOMs to support software supply chain visibility and compliance.
• Validate image functionality, reproducibility, and compatibility with Kubernetes and other containerized environments.
• Collaborate with platform, infrastructure, and security teams to define image hardening standards and integrate curated images into development and deployment workflows.
• Maintain documentation that helps developers adopt and use curated images.
• Improve remediation speed, image quality, build reliability, and operational efficiency.

Benefits

• Equity participation.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Remote-first work environment.
• Opportunity to solve complex Linux, container, and software supply chain security challenges.
• Career growth within a rapidly scaling cybersecurity company.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed